The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under the direction of acting director Mick Mulvaney, appears to have backed away from an investigation into Equifax, following a data breach at the credit bureau last year, according to a published report.
The investigation had been started under former director Richard Cordray, after Equifax announced the breach, which compromised the personal information of 143 million individuals.
Following Cordray’s resignation in November and the subsequent appointment of Mulvaney as acting director, the investigation has “sputtered,” according to the report. The CFPB has not sought to subpoena Equifax or sought sworn testimony from any company executives. According to the report, Equifax has acknowledged that it is being investigated by every state Attorney General in the country and is facing more than 240 class-action lawsuits.
The Federal Trade Commission has acknowledged it is conducting its own investigation into the Equifax breach.
Under Cordray, the CFPB and FTC were planning to work together to investigate Equifax and the CFPB had reached out to other banking regulators, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to coordinate on-site reviews of the three major credit bureaus. The banking regulators have now been told to stand down, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Mulvaney can expect to hear from Steven Mnuchin, the Secretary of the Treasury Department, about the status of the investigation. Mnuchin was testifying before the House Financial Services Committee yesterday when he was asked about why the CFPB may not be continuing its investigation into Equifax.
“I haven’t spoken to Director Mulvaney about it, but I will,” Mnuchin said, when being questioned by Rep. David Scott [D-.Ga.].
ICYMI: watch my exchange about the CFPB's handling of the investigation of the #Equifax data breach with U.S. Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin during his appearance at today's Financial Services Committee Hearing. https://t.co/twxDIReljH
— Rep. David Scott (@repdavidscott) February 6, 2018
